Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.

This Innovative Web Site Is A Good Place To Be for Energy-Minded Homeowners

Shared customer experiences and photos appear here by way of social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If it looks familiar, it’s because regional utilities are collaborating on their marketing efforts. The branding on the site looks a lot like the transit advertising or bill stuffers you may have been seeing in the last couple of years.

The theme of this new web site is energy efficiency — appliances, insulation, you name it, utility customers can share their experiences about it via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or a web form. Photos are encouraged.

Visitors to the site are directed to a collection of stories in their territory based on ZIP Code. The site also provides information about energy-saving products and local efficiency programs.

The web site adapts to mobile devices

Each page of the site is specific to a utility and bears that energy provider’s logo. Utilities can modify their pages by, for example, adding links to more resources on their own web sites. All pages are mobile-friendly, and the stories rotate to keep them looking fresh.

The overall message is to reduce waste. “That’s a message we’re excited to share, and this is a format we’re excited to share it in,” says Todd Munsey, Member Services Director at Douglas County PUD.

The web site and marketing initiative are the creations of a committee of representatives from utilities in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, working in collaboration with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, which facilitated the marketing effort.

“What we hope is that this will act as a dynamic, social networking site, because it gives people the opportunity to share their stories,” says Elaine Blatt, Senior Manager of Market Resources, Education and Training at NEEA.

Todd Munsey says that he was impressed with the collaborative process by which the committee gathered input during the creation of the site.

“It’s a Good Place to Be” has been open for only a couple of weeks. Expect it to grow as people share stories and utilities expand their pages with new information.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.